Where the Silence Lives
"Where the Silence Lives" is an ongoing series of watercolor paintings created over the past year. The series explores imaginary nocturnal landscapes inhabited by animals — whales, bulls, and a black cat among them. These are not places I have seen, but places that seem to emerge naturally while I paint.
I rarely begin a painting with a complete image in my mind. Sometimes it starts with a color I want to see, a particular shape, or simply a spot of watercolor that catches my attention. From there, the painting begins to develop on its own. I follow the process rather than trying to control it completely, allowing unexpected forms and connections to appear.
Night and twilight became a natural setting for these worlds. They bring silence and mystery, but they also shift our relationship with what we see. In darkness, we rely less on vision and become more attentive to feeling. A black cat becomes almost inseparable from the mystery of the night; a whale carries a sense of depth and freedom; the bulls bring another kind of presence — strength, groundedness and quiet confidence.
One of the challenges of this series has been working with intense, vivid colors while preserving what I love about watercolor: its transparency, spontaneity and sense of movement. I want the paintings to remain alive rather than perfectly controlled.
"Where the Silence Lives" is, ultimately, a collection of places where I imagine silence could exist — quiet worlds where the ordinary rules of reality are allowed to disappear for a while.
Bio
Evgenia Smirnova is a visual artist and art teacher originally from Saint Petersburg, currently based in Italy, where she has lived for 17 years. Her artistic practice explores dreamlike landscapes and imaginary worlds where familiar elements are combined in unexpected ways. Working primarily in watercolor and acrylic, she is interested in creating images that invite the viewer to pause, feel and imagine rather than simply observe. Her work has been exhibited in Italy and internationally, including exhibitions in Rome, Milan, Venice, Taiwan and other locations.
Follow on Instagram: @es.artpainting
